hardinparamedic:PonceAlyosha: Have you never heard of Shaolin? Buddhism has always had a great martial tradition/been used to organize violent thugs.

That's China.

[www.enchantedlearning.com image 244x160]

Yakuza are Japanese.

[geographyblog.eu image 416x342]

It's generally considered bad form and racist to confuse the two. The Chinese don't like the Japanese for good reasons.

I'm talking about Buddhism culturally, not nationalities. You are right, it would have been more appropriate to bring up the Buddhist influences on the code of Bushido, but that's complicated by the syncretism with Shinto. The idea the all Buddhism is inherently nonviolent has no precedence, at least after Emperor Ashoka.

Dammit, I need a new computer. The keys are starting to stick on this one and I haven't even spilled ketchup on it again. Come to think of it, that was another keyboard. Maybe all I need is another keyboard.

New keyboard. Had one hidden under my desk. I hate it. It is weird. That's probably why I hid it under my desk. But keyboards are cheap and commodified, which means that they will soon be obsolete, like mouse cords. But I digress.

I don't think being a Buddhist priest and a Yakuza mobster is what they mean when they urge you to have a full life. Must leave this thread. I'm starting to sound like bad imitations of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.

hardinparamedic:PonceAlyosha: Have you never heard of Shaolin? Buddhism has always had a great martial tradition/been used to organize violent thugs.

That's China.

[www.enchantedlearning.com image 244x160]

Yakuza are Japanese.

[geographyblog.eu image 416x342]

It's generally considered bad form and racist to confuse the two. The Chinese don't like the Japanese for good reasons.

What's one massacre between friends? The US is great friends with most of the people we have bombed to shiat. Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and hell we even have a better than one would expect relationship with Vietnam. People do horrible things in war. You can either continue to act like a biatch about it which leads to further conflict or get over it. Most of that generation is now dead and the few crazies that think it never happened don't get much credibility.

Xythero:So, according to this glowing article, he was a crime boss that didn't commit any crimes? Wouldn't that just make him a boss?

Yeah, that's what I'm not getting either. I'm sure there is much I don't understand about the whole thing, but isn't Yakuza inherently an underground mafia organization making money illegally? If everything he was doing was legal, how could he technically be Yakuza?

Corn_Fed:Xythero: So, according to this glowing article, he was a crime boss that didn't commit any crimes? Wouldn't that just make him a boss?

Yeah, that's what I'm not getting either. I'm sure there is much I don't understand about the whole thing, but isn't Yakuza inherently an underground mafia organization making money illegally? If everything he was doing was legal, how could he technically be Yakuza?

That he wasn't engaged in fraud, extortion or bid-rigging doesn't mean he was making money legally. You need to use your imagination, Corn_Fed san, and think outside the box. Bribes, collusion, undue influence, insider trading, and other methods of making money are just as illegal as overt thuggery, but don't actually hurt people. I suspect that's what this writer is saying. Compare John Gotti's tactics with Bernie Madoff's, for instance.

The police determined that he fell from the seventh story of the building where his office was located. When the ambulance arrived, Inoue told the crew: "I'm fine. Just take me to the hospital. I'll walk to the car myself."

shkkmo:duenor: I tried to search for multiple things in this article. None of them turn up in Google. The yakuza group's wiki page does not list him at all, although it lists a great many other bosses.

The book? no hits.The yakuza boss? no hits.the detective? no hits.

the reporter is real according to his wiki page and associated links but don't know if this is actually his.

I found:http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://tvnews.un it ymedia.de/heute%3Faid%3D270507&prev=/search%3Fq%3DTakahiko%2BInoue%2By akuza%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1158%26bih%3D572&sa=X&ei =tHU1UYqzFIb_yQHg-oG4AQ&ved=0CDQQ7gEwADgKThat seems like a vague corroboration. I suspect that if I could google in japanese or german (oddly) I might find more.